Cloudy Water - Question

[teknina]

Howdy Folks,

Brand new here to the forums as well as salt water and have a question about my setup.

I setup my 55g about a week ago, added substrate, etc, and noticed it was cloudy. That went away (substrate settled) and the water was absolutely crystal clear.

My Setup: Fluval FX5 with only pre-filter and biological media, ~100g rated hang-on protein skimmer, run of the mill powerhead.

I added my live rock to the tank and all of a sudden the white cloudiness is back with a vengeance.

I haven't done anything different and nothing has changed in the tank (with the exception of the live rock).

My thought is due to excess waste (the live rock came with PLENTY of bristle worms which may have died in the process).

My water levels are normal (8.2 PH, no ammonia, ~460 calcium, nitrate/nitrates where they should be).

Any suggestions?

Should I use a water clarifier? Take out the live rock and do a water change?

Any help would be appreciated :)

Thanks!

 

[bjohanson1234]

I amguessing a bacterial bloom from die off on the live rock.

 

[Smitty]

My thought was that the dust settled on top of the sand, and when you placed the rocks in there, it disturbed the sand again, ergo, causing the cloudiness again. Allow the dust to be collected by the filters and it'll eventually go away.

 

[teknina]

Howdy

Thanks for the replies. The water was absolutely crystal clear when it was added. Short of the minute disturbance to the substrate, there wouldnt be enough in the water column that would make it as cloudy as it is.

 

[teknina]

I added a reef clarifier to see if that helps. If not I'm going to try a water change.

If nothing then it'll just be a waiting game I guess lol

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, just give it time..and a water change always helps.
Good luck and welcome to the site. :)

 

[Bifferwine]

White cloudiness that isn't sand usually indicates a bacterial bloom. This is really common if you add a bunch of live rock -- there is stuff dying off on the rock and the bacterial population explodes trying to manage the waste. Just wait it out, and it should be fine. It may take several days or a week. :)